GIA Team

Nadia Elokdah (she/her)

Vice President & Director of Programs

Nadia Elokdah is an urbanist and design strategist with more than a decade working at the intersection of public systems and cultural practice. She currently serves as Vice President & Director of Programs at GIA. Most recently she served as special projects manager with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs coordinating the City’s monuments commission. Prior, she served as coordinator in the development of the City’s first cultural plan, CreateNYC, in which she coordinated and led hundreds of engagements with a broad cross-section of the public, as well collaborating in the writing and production of the plan. She is devoted to civic engagement through culturally responsible, inclusive, and equitable design practice, exemplified in collaborations with the International Design Clinic, in.site collaborative, and Monuments Lab. Nadia is a trained architect and designer, researcher, professor, and published author, including Identity Crisis, a cultural exploration of urban planning through the hammam. She currently serves as steering committee member of the Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) Non-Black POC Solidarity! into Action Committee, National Coalition for Arts Preparedness & Emergency Response (NCAPER) Programming Working Group, and an advisory board member for Unsettled. Nadia holds a Master of Arts in Theories of Urban Practice from Parsons School of Design and a BArch in Architecture from Temple University.

Ericka Jones-Craven (she/her)

Communications & Publications Manager

Ericka is a creative strategist, curator, and arts activist. With almost 10 years of experience in the arts, she has led, collaborated, and created works within the fields of photography, art writing, filmmaking, and research. Ericka's passion for narratives expands outside of her personal work and is exercised when connecting artists with resources in their communities and at large. Ericka has served as an art writer and reviewer for the Performa Biennial, Gallery Director of The Scene Art Gallery, and Art Director for Public Arts Dialogue. She enjoys film photography, cooking, and writing. eljcvisuals.com

Champ Knecht (he/him)

Director of Operations & Finance

Champ Knecht has been working in non-profit finance for two decades, most recently as Deputy Director for Administration at The Drawing Center. Prior to that, he was at MoMA PS1, and in Pittsburgh PA at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Early in his career, Champ worked at New York Foundation for the Arts in its artist sponsorship program, and it was there that he realized arts management was to be his chosen career path. At The Drawing Center, he guided the institution through a major renovation and capital campaign. While he was Deputy Director, The Drawing Center became one of the first non-profits to successfully close out a major grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Champ is active on the Human Rights Campaign’s national Board of Governors, and is the Greater NY Steering Committee Co-Chair.

Jaime Sharp (she/they)

Senior Program Manager

Jaime Sharp (she/they) is passionate about fostering systemic change and intergenerational connections to empower communities through arts and culture. She serves on the steering committee for the Chicago Chapter of Emerging Practitioners of Philanthropy, the Advisory Council for QTPies (Queer and Trans People in Emergent Spaces) with Funders for LGBTQ Issues, and the inaugural steering committee for the LGBTQ+ Network at OPERA America. Jaime is also on the board of Chicago's Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, Lyric Young Professionals at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the LBTQ Giving Circle at the Chicago Foundation for Women. They have participated in several professional development programs nationwide, including BIPOC Leadership Circle with artEquity and Leadership Through Mentorship with Women of Color in the Arts. Jaime holds an MBA, MA in Arts Administration, MM in Vocal Performance, and certificates in Social Impact Strategy (University of Pennsylvania), Fundraising and Development (University of Kentucky and The Tessitura Network), and Cultural Leadership (A.R.T. at Harvard University). Based in Chicago by way of the South, they share a vibrant life with two cats, better known as "the girls." jaime-sharp.com

Eddie Torres (we/us)

President & CEO

Eddie Torres is a social change servant leader in the nonprofit, philanthropic and public sectors - currently serving as president and CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts. Torres served as deputy commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City, where they played a leadership role in the city’s long-term sustainability plan, the city's first cultural plan and a study of and support of the diversity of the city’s cultural organizations. Torres is featured in The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning, discussing their work for the City of New York. Prior to joining the New York City government, Torres was a program officer with The Rockefeller Foundation, supporting arts and culture, employment access, and resilience. Torres has also served at The Ford Foundation and Bronx Council on the Arts. Torres serves on the board of directors of United Philanthropy Forum, as well as serving on its Public Policy Committee. Torres holds a Master of Arts in Art History from Hunter College and a Master of Science in Management from The New School.